Triangulation and radio frequency (RF) fingerprinting are two major Wi-Fi location tracking technologies. Triangulation uses multiple access points to find a device based on the received signal strength of the device at each access point. Triangulation based location tracking systems determine the intersection point of a device's signal at each access point to identify the device's most likely location. RF fingerprinting based location tracking systems create a grid mapped to a floor plan that includes all physical characteristics and access points in a given area. The RF fingerprinting based location tracking is theoretically more accurate than triangulation based location tracking.
However, RF fingerprinting based location tracking systems are required to maintain a database to store the mapping relationship between RF fingerprints and locations. The RF fingerprinting system's location accuracy is highly dependent on the accuracy of the database, including both the resolution of the samples in the database and the truthfulness (or accuracy) of the values in the database. The construction and the maintenance of the RF fingerprinting database require significant investment of time and manpower. Additionally, based on movement of the devices at the access points or other factors, the entire indoor area may occasionally need to be scanned (or rescanned) to ensure the accuracy of the RF fingerprinting database. Thus, although RF fingerprinting is technically more comprehensive than triangulation, triangulation dominates today's indoor location tracking market.